


Every Tuesday (if I can wait)

by solkwannie



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Flower Shop, Dating, Falling In Love, Fluff, M/M, Secret Admirer
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-26
Updated: 2017-08-26
Packaged: 2018-12-19 21:20:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,581
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11906436
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/solkwannie/pseuds/solkwannie
Summary: Once a week, the same boy from the flower shop in front of his school comes to give the photography student Seungkwan a bouquet of flowers from an anonymous sender. Seungkwan can’t figure out who’s sending them, but he’s enjoying it —at least the florist is cute.Or, verkwan flower shop AU, set in the U.S.





	Every Tuesday (if I can wait)

**Author's Note:**

> I'll go down with this ship

Working in front of his college allows Hansol to look at all the people that walks out. He’s seen couples breaking up, couples making out, students smoking as soon as they walk out of campus, students sneaking dogs in… It’s rarely boring. And while being a florist obviously isn’t his dream job, it’s convenient. He lives on campus, so it saves him having to spend on transportation. And every cent matters for a college student, obviously. And, as it is never too busy, he can make his homework here, too.  

But his favorite pastime became waiting for “the cute dog guy.” “Cute” being the guy… the dog was cute too, but… Every day, this guy with short, dyed blond hair, adorable cheeks and possibly the best ass he’s seen would come outside to feed a dog that came to campus every day. He would spend some time with it, play with it and then return inside. Hansol found himself staring at him the whole time… he had a beautiful smile and obviously, a big heart, judging by how he takes the time, money and effort to feed a homeless dog.

The best of the ideas comes to his mind after a month of just watching through the crystal of the flower shop, wondering how he could approach him— what he would say. It was the perfect way to get to know him better.

It’s a pretty October Tuesday when Hansol walks out of the shop, a bouquet of pink roses and lilies in hands. The cute dog guy had just finished feeding the hungry golden retriever mix and was waiting for it to finish eating, cooing at it in Korean as he tells it how cute it is. The boy turned around when he felt someone approaching, giving a warm smile to the guy holding the flowers.

Hansol freezes for a moment upon seeing him smile up close, but he quickly returns the gesture, “This is for you.” He says with confidence and at the other boy’s confused expression, he turns his head to the flower shop, “I work there. Someone bought these for you and asked me to deliver them next time I saw you.”  He’s speaking in Korean as well, even though he knew the guy probably can speak English.

The blond boy blinked, chuckling as he’s clearly flustered, “Uh— who?”

The florist shrugged, “I don’t know. They didn’t give me a name and they asked for me to not give away their identity.” He had thought about this lie the night before and he was proud of how well he was carrying it, “They told me you feed the dog every day and that I would see you around this time.”

With yet another shy chuckle, the blond boy pushed his hair back, nodding slowly, “Thank you.”

The brown haired boy shook his head, “You’re welcome!”

And with that, Hansol turned around and almost ran back to the shop. The cute boy looked even better up close, smiling right at him. And the slight blush on his face really favored him, too.

Seungkwan, the cute dog boy, had trouble sleeping as he tried to figure out who would send him flowers and why they would send them anonymously. But there was this weird tingling feeling inside him. It was exciting. He was hoping that, eventually, he’d get a confession.

**

After thinking about it the entire week, Hansol decided to take another bouquet to the pretty boy. This time he chose a simple arrangement of carnations and chrysanthemums and crossed the street where the boy was, sitting on the floor petting the dog. This time the boy sat down, passing the bouquet to the amused blond.  

“Again?” He said with a grin, taking the flowers and smelling them. He seemed more confident this time.

“Yeah.” Hansol shrugs, “They just paid me in advance to keep delivering them to you for the rest of the month and next one.”

The other boy stares at him, incredulous, “Tell me how they look like.”  

“I can’t do that… I would be violating the florist/customer confidentiality.” He nodded as if he were being completely serious, but he ended up chuckling when he heard his crush laugh.

“There’s no such thing!” He kept laughing as he pets the dog, but his gaze is on the other guy.

Hansol purses his lips, “Apparently, there is now. They paid me, so I can’t play with their trust, what kind of person would that make me?” He reaches for the dog’s back, stroking it gently, “This dog is like me.”

The boy stares at him and raised an eyebrow, “Explain?” He sees the dog moving away from him, to get closer to the other guy. How loyal.

“A mix.” Hansol chuckles cutely, looking up from the dog to the blond boy, “At least I know what I am. He looks like a retriever mixed with… A Chow Chow, maybe? He’s too fluffy.”

The blond laughs a bit more, squinting his eyes at the florist, “I was wondering why your Korean was perfect! So you’re half Korean half… white?” He realizes he had no idea. All white people look similar, how is he supposed to tell what features come from what country? Being surrounded by white people doesn’t help either. And it’s all too common that people from the same ethnicity gather together.

Hansol chuckled, “Yup. American. Dad’s Korean.” He cupped the dog’s face in his hands, laughing when the dog tried to get closer and lick his face, but he carefully pushed it and kept petting him.

“Wait…” He hums, “You go here too, right?” Those big eyes are hard to forget, “I’ve seeing you walking around campus! Everyone thinks you’re cute.” Everyone, being his other Korean friends.

The florist is very much aware of this weird popularity with girls, so he just nodded, flustered, “I don’t know what’s the big deal.”

Cute dog boy purses his lips. He understands. He does find the guy cute— but he isn’t about to say that out loud. “What are you majoring in?”  

“Linguistics. I’m already good with languages, so… I wanted to try.” He stopped petting the dog, but not for long, since it immediately demanded for more curling up on his lap.

The blond smiled, “And you work in the flower shop during the rest of the day?” He glanced at said shop, making a note to himself to go there next time he needed flowers.

“Six hours a day. I’m on my lunch break right now— It’s cool. There’s not a lot to do, I even study there.” He hums, “And you? What are you studying?”

The blond scooted a bit closer, reaching for the dog to try and start petting it again. After all this time feeding it and it had changed him so easily! “Photography.”  

Hansol smiled brightly, “That fits you.” The boy is so cute and soft that he can imagine him taking such stylish, aesthetic pictures.  

Tilting his head, the other boy asked, “Why??”  

He has no idea of how to answer that, but fortunately, he doesn’t have to. His watch's alarm went off and he quickly stood up, “Break’s over! I guess I’ll see you next week!” He grinned, before walking back to the shop.

The blond boy remained there for a few more minutes, looking at the flowers with fond eyes. He’s still clueless as to who is sending these, but it’s a nice gesture.

**

Days are going by slowly. Hansol feels like it took forever for Monday to come by, and then, he managed to wait until Tuesday again. This next bouquet he prepared arranged dahlias, irises and orchids. There’s no meaning in the flowers he's choosing, it was pointless. He was just arranging them cutely for his crush to see.  

This time, the boy seemed to be expecting him. He waved at Hansol as he crossed the street, but he ends up covering his face in embarrassment as he sees the pretty flowers he was holding.

“Delivered.” He winks at the boy. Oh God, why did he wink? He wasn’t supposed to.  

The photography student didn’t seem to mind, taking the flowers and sighing in content. He had fed the dog already, and now he was resting against the wall.

It’s now that Hansol remembered— he had forgotten to ask something very important last time. It kept bothering him that he didn’t know, “What’s your name, by the way?” He asked as casually as he could.

The blond boy smiled beautifully, “Boo Seungkwan.” He looked so, so pretty holding the flowers. “Yours?”

“Chwe Hansol.” He is trying hard to control his smile. He’s just so happy to finally know the name of the boy he had been sighing over for the past couple of months. “But Americans call me by my middle name, Vernon.”

“Nice to —officially— meet you.” Seungkwan responded. He was still smiling. He seemed to do that a lot and Hansol was loving it.  

Hansol scratched his head. What could he say now? He’s about to open his mouth, but Seungkwan talked again.

“I got to go, I have some things to do but I’ll see you next week, alright??” He seems genuine, Hansol doesn’t think once that he might just be trying to get rid of him, “Thank you again, Hansol.”

The brown haired boy smiled, more flustered than he should, “Don’t thank me, I’m just delivering them.” He smiled, “See you.”

**

Now that Hansol knows Seungkwan's name, he can put a name to his daydreaming. He still looks through the glass day by day, watching the boy from afar. Sometimes Seungkwan would look up, and he'd have to immediately pretend he's doing something else.

Vernon heard his phone ring once with the notification tone and when he went to check it,  the brilliant idea of looking up his crush’s Instagram came to mind. He was a photography student!! He probably had beautiful art. With a bit of struggle, Hansol managed to locate it.  

He scrolled down with a smile on his face, but his expression changed completely to one of (pleased) surprise when he sees that Seungkwan had been taking pictures of the bouquets he's gifting him. Even if he’s alone, he ended up with his face all flushed, more so upon reading the caption of the third one, “The cute guy delivered these again! Apparently they’re from a secret admirer? Come out! ㅠㅠ” So, Seungkwan was definitely adorable. And, besides that, he’s clearly loving the bouquets. The only problem is that, well, he doesn’t know it’s him who’s doing this. Maybe he should confess? Or maybe, he should keep this going for a bit longer. Just a bit more, until he had gotten to know him a bit more.

And that he did, another five weeks in a row in which they would talk about nonsense. Hansol would spend at least fifteen minutes out there with him, simply talking about school, seeing if they had any professors in common, their majors, plans. They also learned they were both eighteen. And Seungkwan explained how he was from South Korea but was studying in America because he thought it was the only way he’d fully learn English and he wanted to experience this, living in a different country. It honestly made Hansol worry, because that meant Seungkwan would be going back when he finished school. But it was silly, to even think about it.

Today is Tuesday again and Hansol had just started to craft the bouquet of the day. He sees Seungkwan with the dog, so he has to rush to make sure that he wouldn’t miss him. But when he looked up again, he didn’t see the boy there. He sighs, setting down the half done bouquet of orchids again, but with tulips this time. He debated on whether finishing it or undo it and wait until the next day, but then he hears the door of the store being opened. And he panicked seeing Seungkwan.

“Hey! Hello.” The boy looks around the shop, smiling at the sight of all the pretty flowers around, “I was thinking…  you keep coming deliver the flowers during your lunch break, don’t you?”

Hansol squints his eyes as him, as if questioning were the question was going, “I do…”

The blond laughs, “I was thinking that, seeing how we always end up chatting, you could use your break to actually eat for once. Have you tried the sandwiches next door?”

With a smile on his face, Hansol nods, “Are you kidding me? Of course I have. Sometimes it’s all I eat.” He chuckled, reaching for his pocket to make sure his wallet was there, “I just have to finish this bouquet.” He continued working on it, glancing a couple of times at the other boy. Seungkwan was staring at his hands as he carefully arranged the flowers.

Seungkwan sighed quietly, then looked up at the boy, “Are those for me?”

It wasn’t a weird question. It was perfectly normal and expected. And yet, it made Vernon’s heart stop for a second. It was simply that for an instant, it felt as if Seungkwan knew. “Yup.”

The other boy is all too used to this already that he doesn’t even flinch, “They’re pretty.” He hums, “Can you at least tell me if this person is a guy?”

Hansol freezes. He had been wanting to ask him if he would mind that it was a guy. He just wanted to be safe, because assuming the boy’s sexuality just because of his soft appearance wasn’t good for either of them. “Yeah. It’s a guy.”

With a smile of his face, the blond nodded, “Good. I’d have have news for them if they were a girl.”

This is really such a relief. He still can’t know if Seungkwan would ever like him back, but knowing he **does** like boys it’s enough of a relief for now. “I’ll let them know they have a chance.”

Seungkwan giggled, “They might. But don’t get their hopes up.”

“Mmh?” Vernon chuckled, giving the bouquet the finishing touches, “Why is that?”

“I don’t even know how they look like! I can’t know if I will like them when I meet them. The flowers are a nice gesture, but that’s not all that matters. I don’t know what stuff they like, if we have any common hobbies.” He nodded.

“Fair enough.”  He turns around with the finished work, passing the flowers to the pretty boy.

 Holding the flowers carefully, Seungkwan stares at them for a moment, “I really like tulips.” He says casually, then glanced up at him, “Does he choose the flowers? Do you have like, a list of what combinations you should make?”

With a shake of his head, he responded, “Nope. I choose. I just know he wants them to be different each day, so I'm being creative.” He makes a mental note— Seungkwan likes tulips. _Give him more tulips_.

 Vernon went to wash his hands, then signaled at the door, “All ready.” When they go outside, he closes the door behind them, locking it.

 “Are you the only employee?”

 “No! But this time is the least busy. In an hour a girl starts her shift. Usually, people buy flowers after work, or early in the morning.” He explains as they walk to the next door establishment and in a few steps they are in the main entrance.  “There's someone covering the morning shift, too.”

 Seungkwan squinted, “Still, wouldn't it be best to wait until she starts her shift so you don't have to close?”

 “I usually do that, but… it doesn't make much difference. Most people just make orders now, so I rarely actually treat customers. As I said, the ones that do come are lovers that probably forgot their anniversary and are making a last moment purchase before going back home. Stuff like that. And those come mostly around six, seven.” He stops talking for a moment, but then quickly adds, “And you go out to feed the dog at this time, so what can I do?”

 The other boy chuckles, seemingly flustered, “Shut up! How is it my fault now?” He walked towards the counter, already checking the menu, keeping a few steps away but he still feels the girl behind the counter looking at him, waiting to greet him. Stressful.

 “I don't know anything else about you, when else am I supposed to give you these?” Hansol shrugs, stepping forward to make his order.

 Seungkwan points towards the bathroom and quickly strolled there to wash his hands.

 When they're both done and wait for their food to be ready, Hansol dares to ask, “And… do you have any suspicions as to who it might be?”

He shrugged, “No idea. There's a guy in one of my classes that stares at me sometimes, but he doesn't look like the type to do this, plus, he's never talked to me or anything. I doubt it.” He took the tray with their food and walked to one of the tables by the window, because who doesn't like to sit by it? “Can't you give me a clue?”

Vernon shook his head, sipping from his drink, “I’ll just tell you that you know him.”

His eyebrows rose, “What?! So I do know him??? Oh— That narrows the possibilities but I still have no idea…” He stares at Hansol, “Is he handsome?”

Silence. How is he supposed to answer this? “Uh… I think so, yes. He's good looking or so do people say…”

Seungkwan squints, “Alright. I just wish he'd come forward and tell me who he is.” He's curious, and not completely closed to the idea of getting to know this guy, “Otherwise, he might lost his chance…”

Vernon purses his lips, “How?”

“I could crush on someone else.” The boy smiled, naturally sipping on his drink now.

He just nods, taking a bite of his sandwich so he takes some time to think. Should he come forward now? At least the boy likes him enough to hang out with him, but… “You mean you could meet someone else, or…?” Maybe he's asking too many questions, but he can't help it.

The blond boy hummed, “Not really. Maybe there's someone already that I might like. Not sure yet.” He starts munching on his food, chewing quite fast but with his mouth completely closed.

Hansol stares in silence. If he's honest, he felt a little discouraged hearing that. He wants to speak up and tell him it's him, it has been him all along, but he opens his mouth to talk and nothing comes out. He ends up playing out laughter and then filling his mouth with food. “I’ll tell him he should hurry.” He simply said after swallowing.

They spent the few next minutes just quietly eating, occasionally smiling at one another. It's not awkward, but Vernon has no idea of what to say now. He glanced at the flowers that Seungkwan had left on the table, wondering if people around them would think they were in some sort of date. If were to be honest, he'd like that _._ Even if it was silly. People thinking it's a date doesn't make it a date.

Seemingly less worried that Hansol, Seungkwan finished the sandwich first so he's only munching on his chips while he waits for the other, “I don't think I ever actually walked into a flower shop. It's pretty. Do you think one of these days I can bring my camera and get a few photos?”

For some reason, the thought makes Hansol's face light up, “Of course! I can arrange them, too, for you. For your photos, I mean.” He shrugged, “Would it be for a homework, or...?”

“No. I might use them later if I can, but for now I just want them because of the aesthetic.” He scratched the back of his head, “I guess I'm _that_ annoying photography student.”

Vernon wipes his hands as he's done eating, moving onto the chips as well, “No! Not annoying. I bet you take amazing pictures. And, there's nothing wrong with photographing pretty things… I personally enjoy it.”

Seungkwan grins, “Thank you. I will show you, then. After editing them. We can do it next week, maybe?”

He nods, “Sounds good. You can come over whenever. Except Friday because I'm off that day.” Vernon explained with a grin.

The other boy hummed, “Oh?? So you work during the weekend??” He tilts his head, “Sad…”

The American laughs, “Thanks, I guess.” He shrugged, “It's fine, they usually do give me the weekend if I need it, but I rather work so I get more hours— My parents pay for my expenses, mostly, but with this I get money for myself and I'm hoping to save some to help with the student loans while I can.” He absentmindedly scratched his cheek and stuffed his mouth with more chips.

Seungkwan laughs and nodded, “Such a good, responsible boy.”

“I try.” Hansol feels very comfortable around this boy already. It’s a good feeling, talking to someone as if you’ve known them for a long time. It makes him think that, maybe his attraction towards him won’t precisely remain one sided. If it does, at the very least, he could end up with a good new friend. There was no downside… right? Seungkwan didn’t seem like the type to be mean when rejecting someone.

“I would like to work too but I’m only here for school…” He shrugs, a small pout forming on his lips, “That’s all I have permission for. I don’t know if it would be too difficult to get authorization to work…”

Hansol shrugs too, “No idea…” He hums, he didn’t want to talk about migration paperwork, honestly, “How long are you going to stay here?”

The boy chews on his bottom lip, “The plan is to stay until I finish my degree.”

Phew. That gives him, what? What’s left of this plus another two years? “You said you’re eighteen, right? So… you’re on your second year…?” Like himself.

“Yes.” Seungkwan grins, “The first year, I did it in Korea, so I’ve been here since this semester started,” He explains, but Vernon already knows that. Not that he **knows** but he would have noticed him before. He’s sure. “Time is passing by quite fast, though… The semester will be over in a few weeks and I haven’t really… done anything over here.”

It’s impossible to hide how his eyebrows rose upon hearing that, so he’s quickly speaking in an attempt to divert the attention, “Ah! If you want, I could… show you around…?” It sounds like a question, one that he was unsure of even saying.

He shakes his head, “You don’t have to! Don’t worry.”

“No, I mean…” He realizes how insecure that offer sounded, so he tries to rephrase it, “I totally wouldn’t mind showing you around.”

This time Seungkwan chuckles, nodding his head a couple of times. Maybe, just _maybe_ he was hoping Hansol would offer, “It could be a Friday after classes, maybe…?”

While this is just a friendly outing, the brown haired boy can’t help the giddy feeling in his chest. He feels like the last time he crushed on someone in such a silly way had to be back in middle school. “Sure! We can… plan this better later. Should we… exchange numbers?” He sounds insecure again, but he pulls out his phone to try and seen confident that he was going to get his number.

“Alright! Just don’t give my number to that guy sending the flowers. He’d have to ask on his own.” He smiles, giving him number by number as soon as he’s indicated to.

The other boy sent him a message right away for him to save his number, then (awkwardly) winked, playful. “I think I gotta go back to work now, but… I’ll see you around, okay?”

Seungkwan nods, starting to get ready to leave and then stood up. He wasn’t going to stay here on his own. He carefully held his flowers, he still hadn’t photographed them so he couldn’t risk damaging them.

Saying goodbye ends up being the only really awkward part of their meeting, but they make it out alive with a simple wave as Seungkwan walks from the flower shop back to campus.

**

“It’s not funny, hyung!!!” Seungkwan slaps his friend’s arm, glad he was lying on bed close enough for him to reach, “I don’t know why I thought it was a good idea to tell you.” He huffs, “You’re so mean to me.” Seokmin had been trying to talk, but the blond hadn’t shut up for long enough for him to do so, “You think this is funny? I’m having a crisis here.”

The other boy kept laughing quietly until he had the chance to speak, “It is funny! I don’t see how it’s such a big deal…” He pats Seungkwan back, gently, “You’re acting as if you were cheating on someone.”

“It feels like that!” He is raising his voice, but Seokmin remains stoic. He’s used to this, “I might not be dating anyone but… isn’t this weird??”

The elder rolled his eyes, “It sounds funny, maybe a bit weird, but I don’t think it’s wrong. It’s not your fault, either.” He tries to calm him down, “You don’t even know the guy sending the flowers. Why would you worry about it?”

The blond pauses, trying to give a coherent answer, “Because… He trusted Hansol to deliver those flowers to me…? And instead of making me fall for him, I’m kinda crushing on the flower guy?”

The other nods, as if waiting for him to continue. When he doesn’t say anything else, he continued, “I think you’re overreacting.” He sees Seungkwan’s face contort into an expression that he can’t exactly describe but he just knows it means he’s about to burst into more and more complaints. So he kept talking while he could, “I think you should think about yourself instead of a person you don’t know. Go out with Hansol, have fun. What if he likes you too?”

The younger boy huffs in exasperation, the pout marked on his face yet again, “I… I actually think he might like me?” He says now in a shy, hesitant tone, “I mean, I don’t know… I just think it’s possible? He gets nervous sometimes. Like, when he offered to show me around...”

Seokmin squints his eyes, “You should give it a chance.”

“I’m not even sure… I’ll leave, anyway. What would we do then?”

The other boy laughs, “That’s in over two years!! If anything happens, you either break up by then or the relationship is serious enough to do everything to keep it. You could get married or something.”

Seungkwan rolls his eyes, “I barely know him and you are already planning my wedding…”

Seokmin chuckles, shaking his head, “I’m just saying there’s nothing to be afraid of.”

**

It’s only Monday, but Seungkwan couldn’t resist anymore. He wanted to see Hansol. It was just innocent curiosity, he can’t help it. There’s something between them almost heavy enough to feel it and as much as it’s slightly scary, he can’t help but pursue it further and further to see where it would lead.

He knows well enough Hansol usually goes on Tuesdays, but he doesn’t care. He walks into the flower shop, camera hanging on his waist as a strong strap that goes over his shoulder keeps it secure. He smiles at him, immediately pointing at the camera as his excuse. “Hi! Are you busy?”

“Hey,” Vernon shook his head, closing his laptop where he had been doing homework. It could easily wait. “What’s up?” He asks in English, smiling.

“Nothing!” He responds in the same language without thinking, before switching to Korean as he felt way more comfortable with it, “Nothing… I was just wondering if I could take the photos today?” Why was he getting all nervous now? Since he talked about this with Seokmin, he acknowledged how he felt and that sort of made him a mess.

“Sure! You should have told me beforehand, to make something pretty for the photos.” Vernon smiled at  going over to the floral refrigerator, pointing at it, “I can get some flowers out for you, but we cannot have them outside for long or they’ll start deteriorating so…” He calmly explained, pointing at the vases on a shelf, “We can use a vase too, it’s up to you. Take a look around and just let me know if you need any help.”

Seungkwan does exactly that, looking around the flower shop just as a puppy would. Then, he turns to look at Hansol working in a bouquet, squinting his eyes without really thinking about it. He was clueless as to what to look for right now. Truth to be told, he’d rather photograph Hansol.

Oh. _Oh._ Who say he couldn’t? “Hansol.” He calls him with a soft pout on his lips, one that he involuntarily uses when asking for things, “Can I take pictures of you with the flowers instead?” He considers himself a good actor at this point. All this time he had managed to keep his outbursts to himself in front of the florist in favor of acting cool, “I saw you working with them and I think it would look nice…”

Vernon, of course, feels himself dying inside, just a bit. He looks at his crush’s pretty face and he nods without thinking much about it. Then, upon realization, he panics, “But how? What am I supposed to do?? I’ve never had a picture of me taken by an actual photographer— Where do I look?”

The blond chuckles, shaking his head, “Just be yourself. You look good focusing.” Oh God, how does he stop being so blunt?

The florist feels his cheeks heating up at this and he waves his hand in front of his face in dismissal, “So just… look at the flowers?”

Seungkwan nods, “That’s right! Just pretend I’m not here and I’ll find your best angle.”

Hansol is still unsure about this, but he nodded. His crush just said he looks good. He should be happy. And, in fact, he is. The thought makes him want to grin like an idiot so he turned around so he wouldn’t be seen, distracting himself with what he was asked. He works on the flowers trying to pretend he wasn’t being stared at, that there wasn’t a camera pointing at him. He feels Seungkwan walking around him, but he forced himself not to look. It’s only when the boy stood in his line of vision that he looked up and all flustered he chuckled as he looked back down, at the flowers.

The result is what Seungkwan, surely biased, thinks is the best picture he’s ever taken. Hansol’s smile was bright, genuine, it looked as if he were in love with those flowers he was holding. He has to stare at it for a long time. He could only imagine how much better it would look in his computer, in high definition and with the proper editing. He finally looked up at the other boy and realized he was looking at him… but neither of them said anything.

He decides to bring up his camera so the other boy would look away too, because if not he knew he’d end up whining out loud over how frustrated he is right now with his own emotions. The rest of the pictures he likes, but he can’t stop thinking about the perfect picture he took and how he only achieved that after Hansol had looked at him.

Maybe he’s delusional, but he likes to think he had something to do with it.

**

flower shop cutie

[08:17 pm]  
hey, i thought you might want to look at the pictures i took today?

[08:20 pm]  
sure!!!

[08:20 pm]  
unless i came out ugly or embarrassing

[08:21 pm]  
then i’m not so sure ㅋㅋㅋ

[8:21 pm]  
No!!!!!!

[8:23 pm]  
+6 pictures attached

[8:23 pm]  
Those arent great...

[8:23 pm]  
I mean you look great!!

[8:24 pm]  
But they aren’t good photos u know?

[8:26 pm]  
omg

[8:26 pm]  
They are great!!!!

[8:26 pm]  
What do you even mean they aren’t good photos!

[8:27 pm]  
Can i use one as my profile pci?

[8:27 pm]  
pic*

[8:30 pm]  
You might prefer this one… :o

[8:30 pm]  
? :O

[8:31 pm]  
It’s loading :) :)

[8:32 pm]  
+picture

[8:33 pm]  
Oh… omg

[8:33 pm]  
I see what you meant now…

[8:34 pm]  
See? This is much better

[8:35 pm]  
It’s one of the best photos i’ve taken

[8:35 pm]  
I wanted to ask you for permission to put it on my instagram?

[8:45 pm]  
Sorry, i was brushing my teeth

[8:45 pm]  
Of course!! It feels weird but i don’t mind

 

[8:46 pm]  
Why weird??? ㅋㅋ

[8:46 pm]  
And you were brushing your teeth already? You sleep so early ㅋ

[8:47 pm]  
I’m tired don’t judge

[8:47 pm]  
And i mean it’s ok it’s just… it’ll be a weird feeling if it gets some likes

[8:48 pm]  
I might become famous ㅋ

[8:48 pm]  
ㅋㅋㅋ you say it as if it were so easy

[8:48 pm]  
I’ll let you know

[8:49 pm]  
And yes, you can use it as profile pic

[8:49 pm]  
I’ll credit you :)

[8:49 pm]  
Thank you!!!

[8:52 pm]  
Today was fun…

[8:53 pm]  
Should i show you around this friday or do we wait until next week?

[8:53 pm]  
This week sounds fine!!! I’ll see you tomorrow, you owe me my weekly bouquetㅋㅋ

[8:54 pm]  
Sleep well, bye bye!

[8:54 pm]  
Goodnight! :)

**

Indeed, Seungkwan’s artwork ended up having quite a lot of likes. Many… Maybe too many for his liking.

A lot of the comments were along the lines, “WHO IS HE?” or “IS HE SINGLE????” while some others simply complimented the quality of the picture. Others complimented the model, without aggressively demanding for information on him. And a few asked if he had an Instagram, which made Seungkwan realize he hadn’t asked. He could have tagged Hansol in this.

But what bothered him the most, was that he was _annoyed_ over this people thinking they could just hit on Hansol like that. They weren’t a thing so he shouldn’t be jealous and he knows it, but he can’t help it. He’s probably being a brat, but… why do all these people like his _crush_ so much?! While thinking about it (for a long, long time) he comes to the conclusion that he’s jealous precisely because they’re not dating. Hansol has many people that find him attractive— and that’s discouraging. Did he even have a chance with him?

Clearly, he had forgotten about the mysterious dude sending him flowers.

When he goes to feed the dog later that day, he is determined to get to know more specific facts on the florist. Does he like boys too? He doesn’t seem to have a problem with him being gay, but that doesn’t mean he’s not straight. Neither does the fact he seems to enjoy spending time with him. Or that he sometimes get nervous around him. So, maybe, he has a few reasons to think Hansol could be into him, but he knows better than to assume stuff.

He smiles when he sees him crossing the street with those beautiful tulips along with some other white flower he didn’t know the name of. At this point, if he’s honest, he feels like Hansol is the one gifting him the flowers. He’s the one he sees every time, it’s impossible not to link him with it.

“Thank you.” He holds them close to him, smelling them and grinning right after, “I really like today’s arrangement.”

Vernon chuckles and nods, “You’re welcome… I’m glad you like them.” He coughs lightly, “I mean, I’m glad you like them, the bouquets I make.”

Seungkwan just nods, then pulls out his phone, “Hey, so I put your photo in Instagram and people from everywhere started liking it.”

The mixed boy squints in disbelief, “What? Like, a hundred likes, maybe?”

The other laughs, shaking his head, “Four thousand so far! I tagged it in Korean and English, so there’s likes coming from everywhere.” He explains, “It’s my photo with the most likes ever!!” He pouts, “I’m worried it’s not even about my skills, just your face.”

“You are kidding, right?” He kept that confused frown in his face, tilting his head to the side incredulously, “There’s no way four thousand people saw that photo.”

“They did!” He shows the photo to the other, “Mind you, I have many followers, what are you saying?” He rolls his eyes, “It would probably have less likes had you been the one that posted it.”

That was true. His selfies didn’t get many likes. Maybe fifty in a really lucky day and it was mostly from Koreans that thought his American features were “perfect.” “I can’t believe this.” He repeats, “I mean, it’s a good photo, you did a great job but… wow.”

He shrugs, “By the way, do you have an Instagram so I can tag you? People are asking for you.” He sighs, pretending to be annoyed.

“They were?” Now he really can’t believe it. He laughs seeing the exasperation with which the other was looking at him, “What were they saying?”

The other boy rolls his eyes, “That you were cute, they were asking for your name and if you were single, that stuff. It was all girls.” He says to try and evoke a reaction.

Vernon chuckles again, “Ah, what’s up with that?” He blurts out in English, only to return to Korean when he could think of something to say, “Girls are so bold on the Internet.” He scratched his arm, unsure of what else to do or what to say. “And yes, I do have Instagram, I’ll text it to you.”

Seungkwan realizes he has to push the questions further if he wants a useful answer, “What should I tell them? You are single, right?”

The florist stared at him for a moment as if he really had to think about his answer, “I am! But wait— no, don’t tell them that, I don’t… I mean, I’m not interested.” He gets a bit shy at this point, because the only thing in his mind is Seungkwan’s smile even if the boy wasn’t even smiling right now. God.

“You’re not interested in dating or in girls?” He clarifies now in a joking tone, but was hoping to get a straight answer. Well, not precisely _straight_.

It takes Hansol a few seconds, but he finally says it, “In girls.”

That’s all Seungkwan needed to know.

**

Wednesday and Thursday they didn’t see each other and sure enough, they ended up being the longest days of the week.  The infatuation was undeniable and Seungkwan could swear he sees Seokmin laughing inside his head. He wanted to hit him and he hadn’t even actually done anything yet. He sent a text to Hansol with his dorm number, since he preferred him going to find him there whenever he was ready than waiting outside and showing everyone how anxious he was. Nope. Better stay here and hope his roommate wouldn’t return before he had left.

He wanted to lie down while he waited for the time of their meeting, but he couldn’t because that would mean messing up his hair and he had to look good. He simply sat down, scrolling down his Instagram feed and liking a few posts on the way. He feels his stomach twisting with anticipation and he actually has to go to the bathroom a couple of times over false alarms and he just wants this to get over with.

When he hears the knock on the door his heart drops, but the feeling lasts for a second. He immediately went to open the door, grinning at the boy in the door. It’s the first time he sees him up close without the apron. This lets him notice the width of his shoulders and he wants to melt.

Hansol gives him an awkward smile and he smiles back at him, unaware he looked like someone just punched him in the stomach.

“Are you okay?” The American asks, head tilted as he’s genuinely concerned Seungkwan might be sick.

“I am! Why?” He narrows his eyes at him, “I’m ready to go.”

Hansol just nods with a sort of confused expression in his face, but he doesn’t ask anymore, “Alright! You didn’t tell me what kind of things you’re into. Like, where I should take you.” He hums, “I would guess you like nature after looking at your Instagram.”

Seungkwan laughs, “I do! But just take me anywhere you like.” He closes the door behind him, looking up at the other with a smile he doesn’t realize how bright it is, “I just want to go out. It’ll be fine.” He is wearing a pretty mint sweater and he feels _damn_ cute in it, so he slowly starts to regain his confidence.

“Uh… Okay, maybe we can simply go downtown so you can see all the stores and stuff? It’s different from South Korea so you might want to check that out. Then we can eat something.” He smiles, “You won’t bring your camera?”

The other boy shakes his head, “No! I don’t want to worry about taking pictures. I’ll just relax.”

But he did end up taking pictures. He kept stopping, photographing the things that either were his aesthetic or caught his attention and he snapped a few pictures of the other, too. Vernon didn’t mind it, really. He liked looking at him as he focused on getting the perfect angle. He even posed for him when asked, certainly more confident after the success of the other photo.

At first it seemed like they couldn’t find what to talk about, but the feeling quickly vanished as they started talked about whatever thing popped up in their minds. It was easy to talk to each other, even if the environment they grew in was so different. They had a similar sense of humor too, but Seungkwan was the one that talked the most— Hansol mostly laughed.

“Come here, take a picture with me.” Seungkwan pulled him in draping an arm around his shoulder, leaning in so they both would fit in the frame. They were sitting in a bench under a tree in front of a park, resting for a bit after having walked for two hours.

Hansol barely got time to smile for the photo, it was mainly a result of how flustered he got at how easy it was for the blond to initiate skinship. He tilts his head a bit for the next one, accidentally brushing his temple against the other’s face. And neither of them care. He did feel his heart race, but he found himself incredible comfortable with this contact.

He just really likes Seungkwan.

He stares at him while the boy was busy through the pictures, keeping in a sigh that would surely be heard from this distance.

The Korean boy turns his head to look at the other, “You’re so photogenic, I hate you.” He mutters in a serious tone, but his facial expression said otherwise, “I’m getting hungry. Let’s eat something?”

Hansol grins, nodding his head, “What do you have in mind?” At this point, he doesn’t bother looking away from him.

Seungkwan notices how close they are, but he isn’t about to move away on his own, “I saw a Thai food restaurant.” He points into the general direction of the place he saw, “I only tried it once but it was good, I'm hoping this one will too… Unless you want something else.”

The other shakes his head, “Thai sounds good.” He nudges him softly, urging him to stand up without getting up himself. This feels so much like a date.

The slightly shorter boy stood up reluctantly. He was hungry, but he was comfortable sitting so close to his crush. Too comfortable.

Hansol followed right after, unsure of where exactly the restaurant was but trusting Seungkwan's sense of direction. As they walked, he thinks about how lucky he was to have met the other boy. It was a cheesy thing to think about, but… “Why come to the States?”

The blond blinks in confusion, “I told you I wanted to actually learn English…” He hums, “Don't you pay attention to me?”

He does that a lot, talk in that scolding tone that makes him sound older. It's funny, “I do! I mean, out of all the countries that speak English, why here? It's possibly the shittiest one…”

Seungkwan laughs, “Well, yeah, but Australia has huge insects and spiders everywhere. No, thanks. And England's weather is not my cup of tea.”

Vernon laughs at the subtle pun (it was a pun, wasn't it?) and nods in acknowledgement. There's more countries that speak English, but Seungkwan probably didn't know about them well enough to decide and study there, “And Canada?”

He immediately shakes his head, “Can't stand the cold.” He pouts, “Are you trying to get rid of me already?”

“No!” God, he surely fell into one and every complaint of Seungkwan, “I was curious, that's it.” He looks around, trying to locate the place the other was talking about, unsure of how much they had to walk. “And how do you like it so far?”

“It's alright. I haven't seen much but it's worth it.” And Vernon made things way better, honestly. “I'm sure that I want to finish college here. Plus, even if a lot of things suck at least here I don't that have to worry about hiding who I am.”

Vernon gets that. America isn't the most accepting place either, but compared to Korea it was an improvement. Sure, there's homophobia here, but it was bearable. He smiled, “I'm glad. Things here suck but not so bad, I guess…”

He nodded and then, after a couple of seconds, he suddenly stops walking, looking at Hansol with wide open eyes, “I'm lost…”

The American squints, “What do you mean?”

“I don't know where the restaurant is.” He clarified, taking in the stores around them. He doesn't recognize them. Surely, he saw them about thirty minutes ago, but…

“Oh— Oh… Okay, no big deal,” He pulls out his phone, “I'll Google it.”

Seungkwan just leaned in to peak at the screen of his phone, to see if he found anything. When he sees the closest result for Thai food was at least ten blocks away, he sighs, “Let's just get something else…” He didn't feel like walking any more with an empty stomach. “We can eat there.” He pointed at the small restaurant next block, that seemed more pricey than the Thai one he had seen, but he has no idea of what kind of food it was.

“That's… that's an Italian restaurant and it's probably expensive…” Hansol doesn't care that much about the price, he can afford this once and it wasn't super fancy either, but… wasn't that too date-like?

“So? It doesn't look that nice anyway. We can afford it— and I want to try.” He is already walking there, knowing Hansol would follow, even if to convince him to change his mind.

But the mixed boy just follows, “They're gonna think we're on a date.” He expressed his concern (that wasn't really one) but he was worried about what the other would think if by any chance any comment of the sort came their way.

“... So?” He repeated, taking Vernon's wrist to pull him along, “They're gonna think you're a good boyfriend for taking me to nice places.” He was joking, really, “You don't like Italian, or why are you so worried?”

The other boy is too shocked with hearing the word “boyfriend” coming from Seungkwan, that it takes him a moment to process his words and respond, “No? No! I mean, I do like it. I was just making sure you knew what you were doing.”

The blond smiles. He actually had no idea, but with the points the other made, he likes this even more. “If they think we're a couple let's play along. I'm bored.”

He swears Seungkwan is out to get him. Every thing he suggests to do makes him more and more flustered. “Why???”

“Because it's fun! Only if they say anything. I'm not saying we hold hands or anything for no reason.” And yet, he was holding his wrist right then.

“Alright.” He doesn't hate the idea, he's just worried over how much into the role the other could get. But then again? Why would anyone in the restaurant say out loud that they think they're a couple? They'll be just fine.

When they enter the place they're greeted right away by a waiter passing by and the American smiles awkwardly, going straight to a table against a wall since all the windows were taken. At least they didn't have to be in the middle. He's pleased to see that for once Seungkwan just followed. He sits down and takes the menu on the table, looking up at “his date” in, according to himself, a subtle way.

Of course the boy noticed, “You better not look at me like that while I eat.”

And with that, Vernon has enough to be flustered for the following minutes, trying hard not to look up at the blond for long.

Their waitress didn't point out anything when she came to get their orders and take the menus away and Seungkwan was disappointed. He knows that people thinking this is a date doesn't make it a real date, but… it would surely mean there's chemistry, right? He wants that. In fact, he's made it his goal now. Hansol looks so cute when he gets shy and he thinks there's strong possibilities he likes him back. But precisely because he seems shy, he's worried he wouldn't tell him how he feels.

When they bring them their food, the waitress smiles warmly at them and Seungkwan reaches for Hansol's hand to hold. He panicked for a second. Was she flirting with _his_ date? Not on his watch.

The brown haired boy stares at their hands for a couple of seconds, confused but also trying not to scream out loud. _Keep it inside, Chwe Hansol._ He just smiles at the other, only when she's gone he speaks, “You said we weren't going to do that.”

“She was thinking about it anyways, I saved her the need to ask.” He lets go of him, only so he can finally start eating.

This guy is going to kill him.

 

Going home after their date was okay until they arrived at the campus and realized they had to part ways to go to their own room. It was obvious they didn't want to walk away from each other so they stayed in the lobby, talking to each other for longer, but it was getting late. Finally, Hansol dares to start saying goodbye, not wanting to feel anymore that he might be keeping him from sleeping or doing whatever he wanted.

“Hey— can you… tell the guy who sends me flowers to stop?” Seungkwan muttered trying to sound confident— he just doesn't want him to keep spending money on him while he's out there crushing on the guy delivering the gifts.

Right. _Right. The flowers._ Hansol feels bad for lying to him but… it wasn't that bad of a lie, right? Probably he wouldn't even care. He'll laugh, even. “I will— why?”

The blond male shrugged, “It's not going to work. He took too long.”

Hansol bites his bottom lip, holding back a smile, “I'll see you around.”

**

He likes him. He _totally_ likes him. There's no other explanation for the way Seungkwan had said that. The American got home with a huge smile on his face, hoping to shower and go straight to bed and have amazing dreams with how happy he was. But his roommate was awake and clearly, he wasn't keeping his mouth shut seeing him arrive late and so happy.

He spent the following half an hour telling Junhui about his perfect day.

**

Saturday and Sunday are all too quiet and on Monday he's reminded that the winter break starts on Friday. Which means he has this Tuesday before Seungkwan goes back home for about a whole month and clearly, he's not loving the idea.

Yet, he waits until the next day. There's, supposedly, no reason to bring another bouquet, but he wants to. If Seungkwan is leaving, it is better to tell him how he feels— what if anything changes while they're apart? He takes a deep breath and is about to go out with the bouquet but instead, he leaves it there and goes out, determined to make the other come with him. It would be really awkward to confess in front of the campus.

Seungkwan went inside the shop soon as he noticed Hansol calling him. He assumed he just wanted to see him— there was no reason to receive another bouquet, anyway.

But a bouquet is exactly what he sees in the boy's arms upon walking in, the biggest he's received, at least fifty tulips two different shades of pink.

“I said I didn't—” He has to examine but is cut off by the other, who's speaking over him for the first time.

“I know! And he knows. But… he thinks it's not late.” He smiled as he approaches Seungkwan, handing the flowers to him.

Hesitantly taking them, Seungkwan tilted his head, “No— I really don't want to play with him and nothing he can do could work at this point…”

Hansol rolls his eyes. Was his plan that good that Seungkwan didn't get it yet? He's nervous, sure, but he's also hyped with the adrenaline of what he's about to say. “Don't you want to know who it is?”

The other pauses completely. Curiosity is killing him, but… “It would be embarrassing… I wouldn't be able to look at them, anyway.”

Ah. He wanted him to figure it out by himself because the alternative was a cheesy line— but he had no choice at this point, did he? “Even if you're looking at him right now?”

Silence.

A long silence.

Then, tears.

“Wait— shit, Seungkwan?? Are you—? Oh my God, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, I didn't think you would cry… I'm sorry.” Hansol is panicking, moving closer to him to try and calm him down. He was going to hate him, wasn't he?

Seungkwan is crying so much and the moment he feels the other's hand on his shoulder he hits him on the chest, only to immediately scoot into him and demand to be hugged, “What the fuck, Hansol?! Couldn't you tell me before??” He huffs, utterly annoyed as he doesn't care about staining the apron with his tears.

A very confused Hansol just wraps his arms around him when Seungkwan snuggles into him, “You're not angry, are you?” He feels more relaxed— it's the first time the other explodes like this, but he's slowly understanding.

“I am furious!! You coward!” And yet, he's draping his free hand around this waist to feel him closer, “I was so worried I was breaking someone's heart, I was so stressed!” He is basically bawling and thinking about it makes him more upset.

The brown haired boy kept hugging him, tighter now, daring to move a hand to his face to push his hair away, “I'm sorry…” He starts to try and wipe his tears away, soft and gentle, “Aren't you relieved?”

Slowly, he's starting to calm down, after all it was simply a burst of emotions and not actual sadness nor anger, he stares up at Hansol and frowns at him, slapping his back weakly, “You're the worst and you're lucky I like you.”

Hansol bites his lip, “Would you slap me if I kiss you?”

Seungkwan blushes because of the question, but instead of answering he leans in to let their lips meet in their first kiss. Sweet, slow and quite long, as if it were their last chance. They smile into it and Seungkwan even chuckles thinking about how exaggerated his fit was but even happier over the fact the other knew exactly how to react.

When they back away, Hansol is still smiling, letting go of the other so they can properly look at each other, “Why did you cry?”

Seungkwan's expression turns into one of mere annoyment, “Get used to it.” He sees Vernon's confused expression, so he continues, “I just got emotional. It’s okay.  I cry when I’m happy...”

Hansol’s eyebrows rose and he chuckled. He’s just too content right now, “Does that mean you’re happy right now?”

The blond can’t hold back a laugh this time and just sighs as he leans in for another kiss, “Don’t ever trick me again, though.”

With a nod, Hansol kisses his forehead this time, “Sounds fair.”

Perhaps Seungkwan wouldn’t have to stop receiving flowers every Tuesday, after all.

**Author's Note:**

> If you liked it, help me out and please leave a kudo/comment and share with your friends ♥
> 
> I want to write more of them because I adore them so expect more! (: I might continue this one, too.
> 
> My twitter is @solkwannie if u have any additional comments/want to keep up with my future ideas


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